1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an air conditioner, and more particularly, an air conditioner for multiple rooms.
The air conditioner cools or heats a room(s) by discharging cooled air or heated air into the room to be consistent to preset volume of air and direction set by a user, for maintaining a room temperature to a level the user desires. In the air conditioner, there are a cooler operative in cooling cycle in an order of evaporation xe2x86x92compression xe2x86x92condensation xe2x86x92expansion, a heater operative in a heating cycle of a heat pump in which a four way valve is changed over at the expansion step, to reverse the cooling cycle, and a cooler/heater operative in the cooling cycle in summer, and in the heating cycle in winter. And, depending on a number of indoor units, there are a general air conditioner provided with one outdoor unit and one indoor unit, and an air conditioner for multiple rooms provided with one outdoor unit and multiple indoor units.
2. Background of the Related Art
Referring to FIG. 1, a related art air conditioner for multiple rooms is provided with an outdoor unit 1 for conduction of a cooling cycle, multiple indoor units 2 each for conducting air conditioning of a room by using refrigerant cooled in the outdoor unit 1, a pipeline 3 for circulation of the refrigerant through the outdoor unit 1 and the indoor units 2, solenoid valves for controlling refrigerant supply to respective indoor units 2, and exclusive lines 6 for transmission /reception of control signals and information on various system states between the outdoor unit 1 and the indoor units 2. The outdoor unit 1 has a compressor 11, a solenoid valve 14, a fan 12 and a condenser 13, and each of the indoor units 2 has a temperature sensor 22 for detecting a room temperature. In the related art air conditioner for multiple rooms, when a user provides an air conditioner order in the room the indoor unit 2 is provided thereto, the outdoor unit 1 cools down the refrigerant to an appropriate level according to an air conditioning cycle and supplies the refrigerant through the pipeline 3, and the controller of the indoor unit 2 controls the solenoid valve 23 according to an output of the temperature sensor 22, to conduct an air conditioning operation to a level the user desires. As transmission/reception of the various control signals for conducting the air conditioning operation and the system state information and the like are made through the exclusive line 6, a process for connecting the outdoor unit to respective indoor units through the exclusive line 6 is one of core processes in the installation of the air conditioner, which is restricted by exclusive line laying and related processes depending on a structure of the building and an installation method.
The related art air conditioner has the following problems.
First, the process for laying exclusive line between the indoor units and the outdoor unit is difficult and takes time as the process is influenced much by a structure of the building and the installation method.
Second, much cost is required if a distance between the indoor unit and the outdoor unit or between the indoor units is great.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to an air conditioner for multiple rooms that substantially obviates one or more of the problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art.
An object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioner for multiple rooms which permits simple and low cost installation by using a network provided already in the building without separate exclusive line.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioner for multiple rooms, in which information on air conditioning is received through a network and a server connected thereto for making an optimal air conditioning operation.
Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.
To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described, the air conditioner for multiple rooms of a building having a network provided thereto including an outdoor unit, an outdoor unit controller for controlling operation of the outdoor unit, more than one indoor units, an indoor unit controller for controlling operation of the indoor units, and a main controller connected to the outdoor controller and the indoor controller through the network for receiving information on operation states and operation conditions of the outdoor unit and the indoor units, and controlling the outdoor unit controller and the indoor unit controller according to the information and a preset system algorithm.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.